FDNY probes chief over leaks to media

NEW YORK — FDNY has subpoenaed a battalion chief’s cellphone records in an attempt to find out whether he leaked negative stories to The New York Post.

Rory Houton, a battalion chief in the FDNY Bureau of Personnel, got a letter from Verizon on May 1 alerting him that the department was trying to subpoena his cellphone records, The New York Post reported.

FDNY told Houton’s lawyer it wanted the records to see if he had leaked two stories to the Post. One story was about a female FDNY probationary firefighter who was allowed to graduate from the academy without passing a required running test. The second was about a firefighter who failed a drug test and was barred from driving department vehicles.

"The FDNY’s investigation is improper as it is a fishing expedition that seeks [to] restrict [Houton’s] freedom of expression under the First Amendment of the Constitution," the suit states.

An FDNY spokesman said the department has the authority to issue subpoenas, according to the report.